Just say you love me
by AstroVampirex92
Summary: Naruto's been trying to Bring Sasuke back. When he gets a plan to do so, will it ruin their friendship forever, or will it turn out differant then Naruto planned? Rated M: Lemons, cussing, angst. Don't like it, don't read it. It's really that simple.
1. Ch 1: If at first you don't Succeed

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Wish I did, but that's not gonna happen.

Sorry if the Character seem a bit OOC, I tried to avoid it, but it didn't really work.

**Rated M for cussing, violence, Lemons, violent lemons, oh, and angst. (Although, I don't really get how angst can really be considered M…), oh and possible character death. (Still deciding on that though)**

**Italics are thoughts or flashbacks; bold print is usually Kyuubi.**

**Dedicated to my BFF Em. Luvs ya bunches.**

"Dobe, just give it up." Sasuke smirked. Naruto was trying, yet again, to drag him home. It wasn't happening.

"Damn it! Sasuke, you're a pain in the ass, you know?" Naruto yelled. He was slumped, defeated, against a tree and bleeding profusely.

"Yeah, I know. But hey, It works for me," Sasuke said. He started walking away, toward the tree line where he knew Orochimaru and Kabuto awaited him.

"Teme, get back here, I'm not through with you!" Naruto called after him. The blonde was barely holding himself up against the tree.

"Yes you are," he called back over his shoulder. He disappeared into the thick foliage. but he didn't leave. He waited to make sure Sakura found him before he bled to death. He didn't want to kill Naruto, but the blonde was making it very hard not too.

"Oh my G-d!" Sakura exclaimed, seeing Naruto. She ran over and checked for a pulse.

"I'm alive," he replied wearily. Naruto was barely clinging to conscienceness. He wasn't going to admit that Sasuke had beat him, again.

"Sasuke's gone too far this time, he nearly killed you!" Sakura stressed, chakra forming around her hands as she healed her teammate.

"Nearly, but he didn't. He could have, but he stopped, he's keeping me alive, and I don't know why." Naruto confessed. Hinata and Shikamaru appeared by the duo.

"There over here! Hurry up," Shikamaru called out, to whom Naruto wasn't sure.

"Naruto…" Sakura sighed. _I want Sasuke back too, but not if it means getting myself killed, _she thought to herself. She sill loved Sasuke, but more like a brother now.

"Don't criticize me, Sakura. If you don't want to help anymore, don't. Leave, get out of here. I don't care," Naruto said angrily. The rest of the group appeared in the clearing. Kiba, Chouji, Lee, Neji, they were all helping, but none of them really wanted to be there.

"I'm not criticizing you. I just think we should head back to Konaha, or on to Suna. We all need a break, you most of all. In the past week you've fought Sasuke four times, and you've-" Sakura commented.

"And I've lost everytime, yes, Sakura I know, thank you soooo much for pointing that out." Naruto snapped, cutting her off.

"Don't get mad at her, she's not the one getting her ass kicked around like a dead baby," Neji said. He hadn't been in the best mood for a few days. They were all pretty on edge, at each other's throats constantly. Arguing over the smallest things. _Maybe we should head back…_Naruto thought, _I can't. I have to bring Sasuke back. _

"You guys go ahead. Go back to Konaha, or Suna, and get some rest. Eat some good food, then find me," Naruto instructed.

"You're coming with us, though, right N-Naruto?" Hinata stuttered. Her speech had gotten a lot better, but she still couldn't say more then a few sentences around Naruto without stuttering.

"No. I'm not going back unless Sasukes with me. Not when I'm - we're - so close." The blonde replied. He got up, despite Sakura's protest.

"Oh no, I don't think so, you're coming with us," the medical ninja demanded.

"I agree, _we'll_ drag _you_ back if we have to." Lee added.

"Plus, you have all the money and I want some good food, maybe barbecue!" Chouji said enthusiastically. The others laughed.

Sasuke watched as Sakura healed Naruto. Not that she had much to do, the fox was working faster then she could.

He leaned against a tree, completely exhausted. _Damn dobe. Four fights in a week. How does he do it? I'm at the edge here, and he always manages to snap right back up like a fucking weed!_ Sasuke complained to himself.

"Damn Sasuke, he's really working you over this week." Kabuto noted, healing the teen.

"Shut up, Kabuto." He hissed.

"Why don't you just kill that worthless loser-" Kabuto didn't have a chance to blink before Sasuke had him pinned to an adjacent tree, kunai pressed against the soft flesh of his throat.

"If you ever say anything about Naruto again, I'll make sure you never speak again." Sasuke threatened, pushing the knife in until a trickle of blood ran from beneath the blade.

"I'd be careful, Kabuto, Sssassuke doesssn't make idle threatsss," Orochimaru hissed. He slithered up next to them.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I take it back," Kabuto said in defeat. Sasuke released him.

"Not to mention, you wouldn't last five minutes against that 'worthless loser', Kabuto." Sasuke added.

In the end, Sakura, Hinata, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba had had to drag Naruto, kicking and screaming, back to Konaha. They forced him to take a break, much to the blonde's dislike.

"Every minute I spend here, Sasuke gets father and farther away!" complained the day-glow-orange ninja. Some one was always with him so he wouldn't take off.

"We'll be leaving again in two days. Will you please just relax and stay put until then, Naruto, so the rest of us can get a break!" Sakura complained. She had just taken her shift for watching him.

Naruto sighed. His shoulders slumped, "Fine. I'll relax."

"Promise?"

"I promise. I won't leave the village until you, Neji, Hinata, Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji and Lee are ready to go. Okay?"

"Thank you." She sighed, "I'll see you later, Naruto."

Naruto shrugged and walked in the opposite direction. _Maybe I'll go get some ramen. I haven't had any in a while._ The idea just didn't appeal to Naruto; he walked right past the shop.

"Since when do you pass up Ichiraki (that is soooo not spelled right) Ramen?" A voice said from the shop. Iruka was watching Naruto.

"Oh, Hi Iruka-sensei." Naruto said sadly.

"What's up Naruto? I haven't seen you in months. Come on, I'll buy." Iruka said, waving him over.

"Nah, I'm not really hungry," the blonde said, starting to walk away. Iruka got up and followed him

"What's up, Naruto?" Iruka asked, confused by his former students' behavior.

"The some thing that's been up for the last year. No matter what I do, Sasuke still won't come back. I mean, I know he wants to kill his brother and all, but he couldn't have just asked us for help? We're his team, we're supposed to look out for each other, and help one another. Right?" Naruto asked his former sensei.

"Yes, but Sasuke's always been a loner, Naruto, you know that. Plus, he doesn't want to lose anyone else, especially you and Sakura. You're his best friend, Naruto. I'm sure when he's done that he has to do, he'll come back on his own."

"That's what everyone keeps saying. 'Oh, he'll come back', but I know he won't. Sakura may say he will, but deep down, she knows I'm right." The blonde said sadly, hating to admit it.

"When are you leaving again?" Iruka asked suddenly. Naruto gave him a 'and why do you think I'm leaving again' look.

"Oh please, Naruto. You're the most persistent person I have ever known. You're not just going to give up. Especially on something like this." He pointed out.

"Two days. Sakura, Neji, Lee, Hinata, Shikamaru, Chouji and Kiba are making me wait for them."

"And you're listening?" Iruka asked, strangely confused.

"Yeah…" the blonde said, stopping by his apartment door, "I'll see you later sensei."

"Okay, bye Naruto." Iruka said as he watched the blonde. _I hope Sasuke knows what he's doing to Naruto…_

Naruto laid on his bed, feet hanging over the edge. He was staring at the pictures that had been taken of team 7 over the years. The last one, however, was just he and Sakura. Naruto had meant to take them down so many times over the years, but he never could. Something always stopped him from doing it.

He got up and walked over to the wall, meaning to tear the pictures off. But, just like every other time, he couldn't. He stopped everytime he looked at the picture he was going to take off. The one taken right after Kakashi had passed them. _We were so uncoordinated. I don't know how we ever got through that fight with Zabuza…_ he remembered how he thought Haku had killed Sasuke. He couldn't remember why he was pissed and sad at the same time though.

_Sasukes never coming back, team 7 is finished. The only way to get Sasuke back now is to kill him. But Sakura sure as hell won't. Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru could honestly care less. Neji and Hinata, well, Neji might, but who knows why Hinata's even a ninja. I won't, that's for damn sure. Plus, what would have been the point of chasing him down to bring him back _alive_ for all this time, if we just end up killing him. I could have done that several times over by now. _

Naruto stared at the wall, trying to get some clue as to how to bring his best friend and rival back without killing him.

_I'd have to kill Itachi… Wait a minute… _The blondes' face lit up; _I know how to get him to come back. And his older brother is going to help… I have to find Akatsuki. _

**Okay, so I hope that wasn't too bad. If I need to fix anything, just tell me. Especially if it's grammer or something, because English is my worst subject, even though it's the only language I speak. **

**Anyway, if it completely sucks, tell me. So see ya in the next chapter!**


	2. Ch 2: Reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Wish I did, but that's not gonna happen.

Sorry if the Character seem a bit OOC, I tried to avoid it, but it didn't really work.

**Rated M for cussing, violence, Lemons, violent lemons, oh, and angst. (Although, I don't really get how angst can really be considered M…), oh and possible character death. (Still deciding on that though)**

**Italics are thoughts or flashbacks; bold print is usually Kyuubi.**

**Dedicated to my BFF Em. Luvs ya bunches.**

**Sorry it took so long to update, I'm grounded and couldn't load the document.**

"Have any of you seen Naruto?" Sakura asked, meeting the retrieval party at the gates. They were getting ready to leave, but they couldn't find Naruto.

"Nope." Lee replied. The others shook their heads. They were as puzzled as Sakura.

"Hey guys." Tsunade said, approaching the group.

"Naruto's missing," Sakura blurted out.

"He's not missing, we just can't find him," Shikamaru corrected her.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but when you can't find someone, or don't know where that person is, doesn't that mean the said person is missing?" Tsunade asked.

"Okay, you have a point," Shikamaru confessed.

"He's probably at that ramen place," Kiba suggested.

"I already checked, he's not there. The last person who saw him was Iruka-sensei. They walked to his apartment," the pink haired girl told them.

"So, Naruto's gone. Whose job was it to watch him?" Neji asked.

"Mine…" Sakura replied meekly.

_I thought I'd be a lot easier to find Akatsuki…_

Naruto was traveling from Suna. He assumed there might be an Akatsuki member hiding there, because of Gaara, but he was wrong. He'd searched the whole city and found nothing._ Of course I'm not going to find anything;_ He was traveling to the areas around the land of fire, and hopefully avoiding the Hidden Sound Village. He knew they wouldn't be there.

A large white bird with two people seated on it flew over suddenly. Naruto noticed the clothing immediately.

Ha, looks like they found me first… 

The two people jumped off. The bird exploded in midair, above the peoples' heads. A large blob like thing and a blonde woman landed in front of him.

"Naruto Uzumaki, I presume, un?" the blonde asked, turns out it's a he, not a she.

"Yeah." Naruto replied, ready for an attack.

"Not exactly what I expected, but, oh well, un…" the blonde continued.

"I'm not looking for a fight. I need to speak with Itachi," Naruto said to the duo.

"Oh? And _why_ do you need to do that, un?" he asked. Apparently the blob didn't talk.

"It's not really any of your business,"

"If you really need to speak with him, we'll gladly take you, but you're going to have to surrender the nine tailed fox, first, un,"

"Ha, why would I do that? I wouldn't be any use to you guys if I did," Naruto said to them, laughing for no reason.

"Excuse me?" the blob said. The voice startled Naruto.

"I need to speak with Itachi," Naruto repeated. The duo exchanged glances.

"Okay," they said in unison.

All in all, the flight wasn't so bad. Neither was to two Akatsuki members. The blondes' name was Deidara; the blob's was Sasori. They'd actually been pretty nice, even if Deidara seemed a little crazy.

"Itachi, we brought some one. He was very persistent in meeting you," Sasori said to the black haired person.

"Who?" he asked, his voice was completely monotone.

"Uzumaki-comma-Naruto." The blob told him.

"Uzumaki? You mean the nine tailed fox boy?" a fish like man asked.

"The very same, un," Deidara said. Naruto was waiting patiently outside the open door.

"What does he want?" Itachi asked. His voice made Naruto's skin crawl.

"Don't know, he wouldn't tell us, un. He just really wanted to talk to you."

"Bring him in." Itachi commanded.

Sasori motioned for Naruto to come in. Naruto was ready for Itachi to attack him, but the Uchiha seemed completely uninterested in him.

"What do you want?" questioned Itachi. He sounded a bit like Sasuke. _Just more intimidating and a lot less friendly_ Naruto though, amused.

"I want to join Akatsuki," the blonde said blatantly. Itachi and the others stared at him confused.

"You what?" Itachi asked, obviously confused.

"I don't know why I put up with you, Kabuto." Sasuke groaned.

"Because Orochimaru-sensei makes you,"

"Oh yeah, that's right…" Sasuke replied. They were headed back to the hideout. Orochimaru had placed it surprisingly close to Konaha. It made Sasuke nervous, well more nervous than usual. He hated being so close to everything he'd given up. The temptation to go back was too much, so Sasuke stayed away as much as possible. _Yeah, so back to what? The only one who really wants me back is Naruto. Sakura's given up on me. _Sasuke said in his head. He laughed causing Kabuto to give him an odd look.

"I think you're going crazy, Sasuke," Kabuto told him. He honestly believed it too. Being around Orochimaru for that long could make anyone go crazy.

"I went crazy long before I paired up with you losers," Sasuke informed him. He laughed at his own bad joke. Kabuto inched away from him.

The duo was passing the wall to Konaha, completely undetected. There weren't any guards in the watchtower, and there was a lot of commotion inside.

"I wonder what's going on," the raven-haired boy wondered idly. He hadn't realized he'd spoken out loud.

"Who cares?"

Sasuke snapped back into reality, "Huh?"

"You asked what was going on, I said who cares,"

Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Chouji, Shikamaru, Shino, Neji, Hinata, Kiba, Lee, and Tenten burst through the gates and split up. Kabuto and Sasuke ducked for cover. They knew not to go too close to the Konaha walls, but they didn't listen. They tried to break away but Sakura and Lee spotted them. Kabuto escaped somehow, but Sasuke was trapped.

Oh no, Naruto wants to join Akatsuki, whatever will happen? ) I feel so evil. C: You're plot's so thick I need a chain saw to cut through it! (C is my cousin Chance, He's read the next four chapters, which I do have written, but I won't post for a while probably) Not to mention Sasuke is trapped with every Genin/Chunin in his year. His situation doesn't look to bright either. Stay tuned! Oh, and please Review. 


	3. Ch 3: Mission

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I wish I did, better yet, I wish my cousin owned Naruto. (He's a fabulous writer, I'm trying to get him to post one of his fan fics on here)

**Rated M: Language, Lemons, and Ect. Angst-ish. It was supposed to be worse, but oh well…**

**Thanks for all the comments/reviews. And thanks for the verbal abuse cuzzy.**

**Dedicated to Em, Chance, and his boyfriend Damian. **

Itachi just laughed. Yes, laughed. Evilly, but he was still laughing.

"What's so freaking funny?" Naruto asked defensively.

"Did Sasuke put you up to this?" he managed to say.

"No, I'm here of my own free will," the blonde replied honestly. He just wasn't getting the 180 the Uchiha had taken.

"Seriously? Why the hell would you do that, I mean really, YOU think you good enough to join us?" mocked Itachi. Naruto was getting fed up. He heard another set of laughter he figured was Sasori and Deidara.

"If you haven't forgotten, I AM the jinchuuriki for the nine tailed fox," Naruto pointed out. Itachi snapped back into reality.

"Um, good point," the elder Uchiha said, "But I'm not the leader. You'd have to talk to him. Plus, you don't really just show up and get to join, you sort of have to be recruited."

"I'm sure leader-sama would make an exception, Itachi. When has a tailed demon come to US instead of us having to find it," the fish-man said.

Naruto was starting to get nervous. The way the blue guy had said that made him worried he'd just made a horrible mistake in coming to find Akatsuki. He'd been warned not to go after them in the first place, but he hadn't listened. Now he was severely wishing he had.

There was an odd silence before Itachi spoke, "Fine. We'll take you to Leader-sama. He'll decide."

"Sasuke? What the hell are you doing here?" Sakura asked, shocked.

"What did you do with Naruto?" Neji accused. The whole group was on edge.

"What do you mean what did I do with him, I haven't seen that dobe since the last time we fought," he snapped. He was NOT in a good position and he knew it. Plus, Naruto wasn't there to stop them from doing something drastic.

"Please, Naruto goes missing and-"

"Naruto's missing?" Sasuke asked, making the mistake of standing down. _Naruto's missing? Why would he leave without telling anyone? That's not like him, not at all._

"Yeah," Sakura told him, "We we're supposed to leave today, but no one can find him."

Someone suddenly ran out of the gates. He looked around and spotted the group. The man ran over to them, "I think you should see this."

"What is it Sai?" Sakura asked. She took the piece of paper from the guy and read it over. Several people peeked at it. She frowned and shoved the piece of paper toward Sasuke.

"What?" asked the Raven. He took the paper.

_Dear everyone, _

_I went to find Itachi. I don't plan on coming back, at least not soon. I'm sorry I left without saying anything, but if I had you would've tried to stop me. Good luck to you all, I hope to see you again. _

_Naruto_

_P.S._

_Don't bother looking for Sasuke anymore, I've got it covered. _

_P.S.S. _

_When I get back I'm taking you on a date, Sakura. _

Sasuke read the letter several times. His looked turned from uncaring, to concerned, to utterly worried. He looked back up at Sakura and the rest of the group.

"I'm taking it you know something we don't," Shikamaru said as he examined the teens look.

"Naruto's in trouble, really, really big trouble," he said simply. He was more than worried. Finding Itachi meant finding Akatsuki. The only good Naruto would ever be to them is they would get Kyuubi. If they extracted Kyuubi, it would kill the blonde.

"Well how do we find him?" Sakura asked. She had the faint glimmer of hope that this would mean Sasuke would at least work with them, and maybe, just maybe, come back.

"If I knew how to find Akatsuki I would have come back along time ago," he told them.

"Then what can we do?" Lee piped up. Sasuke had forgotten he was there.

"There's nothing YOU can do. But-" Sasuke cut himself off. He grabbed Sakura, "hurry up, there may not be much time."

The rest of the group was about to follow when Sasuke stopped them.

"No, stay here, if something happens you're going to need to protect Konaha," he explained. Sasuke was making his plan up as he went. Right now it only included him and Sakura, and Naruto once they saved him.

Naruto really wasn't enjoying his situation. Fist off, they had insisted in blindfolding him. Then they seemed to have walked for hours. When they had finally taken the blindfold off he had absolutely NO idea where he was. It smelled weird though. He didn't like the look of the leader either. Too many piercings.

"Well this is an interesting situation," the leader said to Itachi and Kisame. Deidara and Sasori had disappeared.

"Well, none the less, we could get Kyuubi," he pointed out.

"True, very true."

"He could take Orochimaru's place," Kisame pointed out.

"No, he couldn't, that stupid bastard took the ring with him," the leader said angrily.

"Um, you know, I AM standing right here," Naruto pointed out. They seemed to suddenly remember that the very blonde they had been talking about was indeed in the room.

"Fine, we'll have him on a trial period. Get him some cloths," he said to the girl that had been standing next to him.

Naruto's plan was working perfectly.

Sasuke rushed toward Orochimaru's hideout, Sakura in tow. If he didn't like the company, too bad, Sasuke wasn't going to stay long anyway. He stopped and Sakura nearly slammed into him. She was out of breath.

"Damn Sasuke…you've gotten… fast," she panted.

"We'll stop here so you can catch your breath. A death man could hear you coming a mile away," he said. He was being oddly rude.

"Well sor-ry, I'm not the one who ran away to a creepy snake man and got tons of training in. I've barely gotten any serious training because Naruto's been dragging my ass to hell and back trying to get YOU to come home!" she replied.

"That's not my problem," Sasuke replied coolly. He rarely lost his temper anymore.

"What the fuck do you mean it's not your problem! It's entirely your problem! If you hadn't left you wouldn't have done that to Naruto and-and-and, oh screw it!" she ranted.

"What did I ever do to Naruto?" Sasuke suddenly felt a wave of regret he didn't understand.

"Never mind, just keep being the selfish bastard we all know and hate,"

"No, you brought it up, tell me," he said frustrated. Sakura's attitude and obsessive ness was one thing he really hadn't missed.

"If you can't figure it out then I'm sure as hell not going to tell you," she said. It was obviously time to go. Sasuke took off without warning. Sakura followed. He decided to slow down a little for her.

Sasuke knew most of what was going on was his fault. In honesty, he hadn't expected any one to follow him. When they did it complicated things and made it harder for him to say goodbye to everyone. He'd tried his best, but it wasn't good enough. Most people had been easy to forget, like Tenten. Others, like Kakashi and Sakura had been a pain. He'd never been able to get over Naruto, and the fact that he kept coming after him was not helping. What he was really wondering was what Sakura had meant when she said he'd done something to Naruto.

It hurt for some reason. The thought that he'd hurt Naruto in some way was causing him emotional pain. He REALLY didn't like that.

Naruto examined himself in the mirror that Konan had showed him too. That was her name, the girl who had given him the cloak. It wasn't that bad. _A little tacky I guess, but it's comfortable, _he thought absently. He'd stashed his headband and Sasuke's in the outfit. There were a million pockets on the inside. Konan reappeared in the doorway.

"Pein wants to speak with you," she said calmly. She waited for his response, it took him a few moments, he sounded different to himself.

"I'll be right there," he said in monotone. Konan nodded and left.

Naruto wandered out into the main room not too long after that. There were several more people he didn't know there. Deidara and Sasori had magically reappered. The entire group left when he came in.

"I never thought I'd see the day a jinchuuriki joined our ranks," Pein said, only mildly interested.

"Trust me, I never thought I'd come join you guys," Naruto told him. He noticed Itachi and his partner Kisame out of the corner of his eye.

"Hn, I suppose not. Anyway, since there isn't any single member's I want you to tag along with Kisame and Itachi. I want the three of you to go get that ring back from Orochimaru. That shouldn't be too much trouble, will it?" Pein instructed.

"No, not at all leader-sama," Itachi said cooly.

"Good, now get out of here, I'm sick of looking at you," he said rudely. The trio left.

Okay, I have to explain the Pein thing, as in, I can't exactly call it OOC because I really don't know how he acts, but I figured he'd be kind if mean.

**Anyway, I hope you like this one. I think it's a bit short, but the next one is long so eh.**

**Please review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GRRRR! If you don't then I'll…I'll… I'll do nothing because I don't know you! anime sweatdrop **

**Stay tuned! **


	4. Ch 4: Discovery

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I wish I did, better yet, I wish my cousin owned Naruto. (He's a fabulous writer, I'm trying to get him to post one of his fan fics on here)

**Rated M: Language, Lemons, and Ect. Angst-ish. It was supposed to be worse, but oh well…**

**Oh, and yes Em, there is a thing for Kisame, it's in the H block. I'd also like to apologize for Sakura's cussing in the last chapter, very OOC. I was re-reading it and it reminded me of Hidan, which was not my intention.**

**Thanks for all the comments/reviews. And thanks for the verbal abuse cuzzy.**

**Dedicated to Em, Chance, and his boyfriend Damian. **

"You're not just doing this to get back at Sasuke, are you?" Kisame asked. They had stopped to rest for a minute. Naruto wasn't talking to either of them.

"You're going to have to say something eventually," the swordsman huffed. Naruto couldn't figure out what the problem with him not talking was, Itachi wasn't the most talkative person either.

"If he doesn't want to talk you're not going to make him, Kisame," Itachi finally said. Every time he said something Naruto felt shivers go up his spine; he hated it.

"Orochimaru used to be with Akatsuki?" Naruto asked suddenly.

"Yeah, he used to be Sasori's partner, he took off after his attempt to get Itachi's eyes failed," Kisame explained.

"So he went after Sasuke," the blonde said more to himself then the other two.

"Something like that, I guess," Kisame agreed. Naruto shot him a dirty look for no real reason.

"Time to go," Itachi instructed.

"Sasuke will be there, won't he?" Naruto couldn't help but ask.

"Probably," one of them replied, he wasn't paying much attention.

Naruto couldn't wait to see the look on Sasuke's face.

"I don't have permission to be in your village, you do know that right?" Sakura asked. It seemed to her like Sasuke was going slower.

"I know, but he'll just have to deal with it. I don't plan on staying long anyway," Sasuke informed her. Sakura gave him a WTF look.

"What?" he snapped.

"Nothing, nothing at all," she replied, smiling coyly. Sasuke didn't feel like figuring out that she was thinking.

They reached the "village", but it looked more like a military base. Sakura stopped and stared at it.

"Come on, we haven't got enough time for you to stand there and gawk," the brunette said urgently. He headed towards the gate with the pink haired girl closely in tow. He knew Orochimaru wouldn't like what he had planned, he'd say he wasn't ready, but he didn't care, Naruto was in trouble.

"Sssassuke, who isss that?" Orochimaru asked. Apparently Kabuto had told him what had happened and he was waiting for Sasuke to come back.

"It's Sakura, my old team mate, we have something we've got to do," Sasuke told the snake. Orochimaru frowned.

"What are you planning?" he hissed. _Stupid snake, it figures he'd ask,_ Sasuke thought,

"Good question."

"You mean you have no plan! That is SO not like you," Sakura said, completely shocked.

"Desperate times, desperate measures," Sasuke growled.

"It hasss sssomething to do with that jinchuuriki, doesssn't it?" he asked. Sasuke flinched. He hated people calling Naruto that.

"Yes, it does, if you really care," Sasuke said, not looking at either person.

"You're never going to kill your brother if you can't let go of that idiot."

"Don't call him that," Sasuke growled.

"Why? You do all the time," both said. Sakura glowered at the snake.

"It's different when I say it." They both just sighed.

Orochimaru started walking off, "well, there's not point in trying to stop you when it concerns him."

"There it is. Remember then plan," Itachi instructed. Naruto stared uneasily at the fortress. He thought he sensed Sasukes all to familiar chakra, but he wasn't sure now. 

"Naruto," Kisame said, the blonde looked at him, "If Sasuke's there, just leave it, that's not part of the mission." Naruto sighed but agreed. He didn't want to start anything, yet.

"So _why_ did we come here?" Sakura asked. They'd only been there for a few minutes before they'd left again.

"You have to check in with the Hokage after a mission don't you?" he questioned her.

"Well, yeah but –"

"It's the same thing. Orochimaru is like the Hokage," Sasuke explained. He stopped suddenly, this time Sakura was farther so she didn't run into him.

"What?" she asked. Sasuke pressed a finger to his lips.

_That can't be him, there's no way, absolutely no way, _Sasuke thought. He knew the chakra well, but he didn't want to believe it cold be him. "It… can't be… Naruto…" he said quietly walking forward.

"Naruto?" Sakura inquired. Sasuke had momentarily forgotten she was there. He nodded slightly. Sasuke gave a hand signal to stop. Just a few feet away Naruto, Itachi, and Kisame were walking toward the village.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked before he could stop himself. The blondes' head snapped toward his direction. He stopped walking and faced him. Sasuke assessed the situation. It only took him a millisecond to notice his new outfit.

Naruto smirked.

"No fucking way," Sasuke said. _It can't be him. There's no way. Why is he with Akatsuki? What's going on?_ A thousand questions whirled around his head. He just stood there, completely dumbfounded. _I must be dreaming. No, Itachi has me in a genjutsu. Yeah, that's it, right?_

"See you around Sasuke," the "illusion" of Naruto said before he darted off.

"Naruto! Wait!" Sasuke called and chased after him. Sasuke almost laughed; usually it was the other way around. Sasuke couldn't figure out what to do. He was still trying to figure out if that really _was_ Naruto. He suddenly noticed Sakura standing next to him. She looked concerned, and just as confused as he was.

"Was that Naruto? _Our _Naruto?" she pondered. She had no clues what was going on, and it showed.

"I think… I think it was," Sasuke managed to say. He wanted to chase after him and demand an explanation, but something was stopping him.

"We have to go after him, They must have brain washed him or something " Sakura decided. She said it very matter-of-factly.

"N-no."

"_What?_" the kunoichi asked loudly, "you have to be kidding? You're going to leave Naruto at the mercy of the Akatsuki, ya know, the group who is _trying to kill him_!"

"I don't think he's there against his will," Sasuke said. Something had ripped in him, shattered into a million tiny pieces. He was completely out of it. His voice had no life what so ever to it, and the little movement he was making was mechanical.

"Why in the hell would Naruto join the Akatsuki?" Sakura snapped. She was fed up with Sasuke's behavior, and now he'd suggested that Naruto had joined the enemy willingly, that had been the last straw.

"I don't know, I just, he…"

"Sasuke Uchiha," she began, her tone immediately got his attention, "who are you? I mean really. It's only been two and a half years and I can't even tell who you are anymore. You look like Sasuke Uchiha, but you most certainly _not_ the boy I knew. He wouldn't have even considered not going after his best friend. He would have recklessly rushed off and kicked anyone's ass who got in his way."

"Everyone changes Sakura, you're certainly not a damsel in distress anymore," Sasuke pointed out.

Sakura shook her head, "Sasuke, you and Naruto may have acted like you hated each other, but I know better," Sasuke looked like he was going to interject but Sakura held up her hand, "and don't you dare say anything about you two just being friends. You were more then just friends, Sasuke, you two just didn't know how to tell each other."

Sasuke looked at his old teammate. She had indeed changed, only much more then he'd thought. But she was right, Sasuke and Naruto had always been more than just friends.

**Sorry it took me sooooo long to update, I've been like, really busy. Anyway, hope you all liked that chapter. Everythings kind of slow at the moment but it speeds up pretty fast. Any way, R&R, thanks!**


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